Discussion Topics for Today's Classroom

Monthly Archives: January 2013

Description: How could this be? Expectations drive stocks and Apple disappointed Wall Street while Netflix delivered a surprise profit. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: Jan 24, 2013 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/investing/2013/01/24/investing-buzz-apple-netflix-nokia-stock.cnnmoney/ Questions for Discussions: Why did Apple’s stock price decline so dramatically on January 24 according to the report? Do you think the stock is oversold?… Read more »

Description: Former Fed official Alan Blinder talks about how to fix the economy, where the next crisis will come from, and how scared investors should be. Source: Fortune.com Date: Jan 25, 2013 Link: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/01/25/alan-blinder-interest-rates/?iid=SF_F_River Questions for Discussions: What are the major concerns and recommendations made by Alan Binder? Do you agree with his positions? What… Read more »

Description: “I’m going to start with a model of a perfectly safe 100 percent reserve economy,” said Robert Lucas, “…which looks better and better to me.” Lucas, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago, was speaking two weeks ago at a panel in San Diego to mark the 100th anniversary of the Federal… Read more »

Description: In fewer than two weeks, the two best teams in the National Football League will face off in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII. The winning team will receive the Lombardi Trophy, along with rings, hats, T-shirts and perhaps even a victory parade in its home city.But could the outcome also tell investors what’s… Read more »

Description: CNN’s Ali Velshi (@alivelshi) explains the how the debt ceiling works, and why we can’t afford another Congressional stand-off. Source: CNNMoney.com.com – video report Date: Jan 11, 2013 Link: http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2013/01/11/ym-debt-ceiling-congress-washington.cnn Questions for Discussions: What is the debt ceiling? What will happen to interest rates if the debt ceiling is not raised? How should investors… Read more »

Description: Waiting for: Guffman … Godot … a girl like you. Such anticipations pale in comparison with waiting for the individual investor to return to a stock market that’s broken their heart one too many times over 13 years.But what’s this? There are tentative signs that the era of “equity abandonment,” as the Street quasi-clinically… Read more »

Description: Harry Winston Diamond Corp. (HW)’s $1 billion sale of a luxury unit to Swatch Group AG (UHR) provides the cash to invest more in diamond mining, a business that last year was more than twice as profitable as jewelry. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: Jan 15, 2013 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-15/harry-winston-to-use-swatch-cash-for-diamonds-purchases.html Questions for Discussions: Explain the logic of… Read more »

Description: Talks to take Dell Inc private are at an advanced stage with at least four major banks lined up to provide financing, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, propelling shares of the No. 3 computer maker 7 percent higher. Source: Reuters.com Date: Jan 16, 2013 Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/16/us-dell-deal-idUSBRE90E0XK20130116 Questions for Discussions: Explain… Read more »